Facebook Page Basics: Setting the Default Tab

One of the best things about having a Facebook Page is the ability to direct a new visitor to any one of your Tabs first. That means that anyone who has not yet LIKE’d your Page or not currently signed in to Facebook can be directed to your Wall, or Info, or Photos or any of the Tabs your Page currently has.

If you are really cool, your Page has a specific Tab (App) custom built to convert visitors to LIKE’s like these people do: https://areweconnected.com/facebook/

You can’t do that with your Profile. You can’t do that with a Group. You can’t do that with an Event. Just a Page. If you have a Page, here’s how to set that function.

STEP ONE

Find your Page. Not sure where it is? Log into Facebook, then click this link. That will show you every page you have ever started. Did you find the Page? Good, now click on it.

STEP TWO

Edit your Page. To do so, you’ll need to navigate to your Page’s ‘dashboard’. First find the WALL tab on the left and click on it. In the upper right you’ll see a button titled EDIT PAGE. Click on it.

STEP THREE

Set the Default Landing Tab. You are now in your Page’s Dashboard section. You’ll see various tabs on the left side. Make sure you are on the “Manage Permissions” Tab. You’ll see checkboxes that will turn on or off features. Did you find the drop down for Default Landing Tab? Good! Click on the drop down and choose which of your Tabs you want to be the Default Landing Tab.

Got it? Great! Wait! before you go, don’t forget to click the blue button at the bottom…

Now here’s a few things to keep in mind.

Don’t have the ability to set a Default Landing Tab? You created your Page as a “Community Page”. That’s bad. That’s a secret Facebook trap for twerps and spammers who create Pages like The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team’s Pants. Seriously *. Delete the Page and start again. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php) Stay in the top 3 boxes there and you’ll be fine.

Set a username for your Page. If your Page is right, do this soon. Not right away, but soon. Think about what title you want for this page. You’ll be using it for all your marketing materials down the road. Now, sleep on it. Why? Because once you set it you can never change it. Make very sure it’s right.

Admins (that’s you) will always go to the Wall, even though you set the Default Landing Tab. To check and see if your page is working properly you can log out and go to the vanity URL you set for your Page. Here’s mine: http://facebook.com/MikeMuellerConsulting If you are going to try this with your page make sure you don’t accidentally use https:// That S will direct you to the secure server instead and facebook will just ask you to sign in.

Add an Admin. Someone you trust. Funny things happen in Facebook all the time. If you are the only Admin on your Page and somehow FB accidentally deletes your Profile, you lost the keys to your Page. My Canadian friends would say, You’re Hosed, eh? But if you’ve added an Admin friend, they can add you back to your Page and save your Bacon. (yes, another silly canuck reference)

Getting Started – ONLY shows for you (the Admin) and only for a short while. While you can’t delete it, just Ignore it.

* True Story… Vancouver Canada, the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the Nord Curlers debut with these wild and crazy pants! Some random guy created a Page as a tribute (remember they were once called Fan Pages and you “Became a Fan”?) That Page gathered 300,000+ FANS and shortly after, Facebook took it away from him and turned it into a community page. There was a ruckus and uproar and in a very unique decision, Facebook gave it back to him and changed the Page to what it is today. I know what you’re thinking… You won’t be so lucky.

Author
Recent Posts

Connected?

Mike Mueller

VP of Happiness at AreWeConnected.com

A former professional hand model, Mike builds Custom WordPress Websites that rock!

He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and now,a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.

Connected?